


No One Likes a Sore Loser

by angelofbenignmalevolence



Series: IR Relief 2020-2021 Ficlets [5]
Category: Thunderbirds
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Sibling Bonding, bar bets
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-17
Updated: 2021-01-17
Packaged: 2021-03-15 04:27:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,473
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28807317
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/angelofbenignmalevolence/pseuds/angelofbenignmalevolence
Summary: Gordon wants a new pair of diving gloves, and he thinks he has just the bar bet to use on his brothers. Scott and John become the victims of Gordon's unwinnable bet...but is it really so unwinnable?
Series: IR Relief 2020-2021 Ficlets [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1759282
Comments: 4
Kudos: 10





	No One Likes a Sore Loser

**Author's Note:**

> This was inspired by a facebook video circulating about a young woman who tries this bar bet on her parents. The piece isn't beta'd but I wanted to get it out while I still had the courage to put it out there lol. Hope you all enjoy it!

Gordon was elated. He had found a new prank to try on his unwitting brothers, and it was one that, if he played his cards right, he would have enough money for that new set of diving gloves he had been eyeing for weeks. An expensive treat for yourself was, after all, always better if someone else paid the price for it. Gordon grinned and took the stairs nearly two at a time as he made his way to the kitchen.

Scott leaned against the countertop with his hands around a mug of coffee, sipping it with a relaxed air. Alan had just checked in from where he had taken John’s place on Five. The aforementioned red-haired astronaut had pretty much gone straight to bed and it seemed that the world was going to be a little quieter today. So far, the distress signals that had come through on the monitors had been simple things and the GDF had been happy enough to go and take care of them.

However, Scott’s relaxed grip on the cup of coffee tightened when Gordon came into the kitchen. When Gordon came in with that kind of predatory grin, it never ended well for any of them. Scott set his mug down and started to push himself off the counter, but Gordon bypassed him, moving over to the cupboard and beginning to pull down some cups.

“Gordon, what are you doing?” Scott asked warily. Anything involving liquid, especially when many in the house were still asleep, could be a dangerous thing. Gordon ignored his brother’s question and set four glasses and a shot glass on the counter. Scott arched an eyebrow. “Isn’t it a bit early in the day to start drinking?”

“What?” Gordon asked, looking confused. “No…no one’s drinking. Not alcohol anyway.” Scott frowned in confusion.

“Do I even want to know?” Scott asked, folding his arms as Gordon made his way over to the refrigerator and pulled out a carton of orange juice. He began to fill up the four glasses part way and then filled the shot glass with orange juice as well.

“Will you relax, Scott?” Gordon asked as he capped the orange juice. “Honestly, what harm could I do with five glasses of orange juice?” Scott arched an eyebrow.

“Do you _really_ want the answer to that question, Squid?” he asked. Gordon paused mid action of putting the orange juice back in the refrigerator to give Scott a look of mock injury.

“That hurts, Scott,” he said. “It hurts that you don’t trust your little brother.” He put the carton away and moved over to the row of glasses. “Just…humor me, ok?” Scott hesitated before letting out a long suffering sigh and moving over to where the glasses were lined up.

“Ok?” The wariness in Scott’s tone might have offended anyone if they weren’t the resident prankster in front of him. Gordon grinned and indicated the glasses.

“I bet you $100 that I can finish drinking all of these four glasses before you can finish that shot glass,” Gordon said. Scott frowned. There had to be a catch somewhere. Gordon wouldn’t make a bet he wasn’t confident he would win. He sensed a sucker bet, but couldn’t yet see how this could go sideways. “There are two rules, however.”

“Of course, here’s the catch,” Scott said. “Alright, let me hear them.” Gordon held up a finger for each rule.

“Number one: I’m allowed to drink my first glass and put it down before you start. Number two: we can’t touch each other’s glasses,” Gordon said. “So what do you say, Scott?” Scott thought about it for a second, muddling over every aspect of the bet, still not seeing where this could possibly go wrong for him. Scott took a breath.

“Ok, Squid, but I’m going to make you actually cough up that $100 when I win,” Scott said. Gordon’s grin nearly made Scott rethink his acceptance of this bet.

“You’re on, Scott,” Gordon said, reaching for the first glass. Gordon knocked it back and Scott looked ready to pounce on the shot glass to protect that $100 and to teach his little brother a lesson. Gordon gave an angelic smile as he overturned the glass he had just emptied and placed it over the shot glass, thoroughly encasing Scott’s shot glass inside his own. Scott sputtered in frustration.

“Gordon that’s cheating!” Scott said. Gordon casually picked up the second glass and sipped the orange juice slowly with a grin.

 _Easiest hundred bucks I’ve ever earned,_ Gordon thought to himself as he made his way casually through the other glasses, placing the last empty one down and holding out his hand for the money he had just conned his brother out of. Scott grumbled as he reached into the pocket of his jeans and pulled out his wallet, pulling out five twenty dollar bills and putting them in his brother’s outstretched hand.

“I hope you choke on your next glass of orange juice,” Scott said ill temperedly. Gordon laughed and downed the shot glass as well.

“No one likes a sore loser, Scott,” he said. “And you know what? To prove that you aren’t the only sucker in the family, the next brother that walks through the door, I’ll try the same thing on. I’ll even double the bet so you aren’t the biggest loser. But you can’t tell them anything or it will ruin the fun.” Scott rolled his eyes and returned to his coffee, picking it up to help nurse his wounded pride.

Gordon didn’t have long to wait for another brother to awaken. He pulled out the carton of orange juice again, filling up the glasses with a heavy pour as he heard footsteps descending the stairs. He gave a smile as John came into the kitchen, rubbing his eyes sleepily and stifling a yawn. John was always a little tired when he was readjusting his sleep schedule back to earth time.

“Hey Johnny,” Gordon said. “Got a bet for you.” John gave a sleepy glare.

“What kind of a bet? And don’t call me Johnny,” he said grumpily. While Virgil might have been a bear without his coffee, John during his circadian shift was a wolverine. You didn’t _really_ want to incur his displeasure, yet Gordon smiled and pushed on.

“I bet you $200 that I can finish drinking all of these four glasses before you can finish that shot glass of orange juice. Only two rules are that I’m allowed to drink my first glass and put it down before you start and that we can’t touch each other’s glasses.” John looked at the glasses with a calculating expression. Gordon waited as John seemed to consider every angle.”

“Two hundred dollars you say?” John said, hiding another yawn. Gordon nodded.

“Two hundred dollars if you win,” Gordon said. John shook his head.

“I’m not concerned about that,” John said. “You’ve got yourself a deal.” Gordon’s grin widened into one that was almost more piranha than human. Scott pinched the bridge of his nose as John accepted the bet. He really didn’t want to see his smartest brother outwitted by the resident prankster.

“Ready, John?” Gordon asked. John nodded, folding his arms. Gordon picked up the first glass, raised it in a toast and drank it down easily. Gordon looked John in the eye as he encapsulated the shot glass once again. John looked unbothered. “Are you really going to make me finish all these, or are you just going to hand over your two hundred dollars now?” John maintained eye contact with Gordon, continuing to look unruffled.

“Hey, Scott?” John asked. Scott looked surprised at being addressed. He had honestly expected John to be a lot angrier about the outcome of all of this.

“Yeah, John?” John motioned to the cup over the shot glass.

“Mind moving the glass for me?” Gordon’s face paled.

“Hey, hey, hey! That’s cheating!” Gordon said. There was no way that he could finish the glasses before John could if Scott moved the glass. John shook his head.

“You said _I_ couldn’t touch the glass, Gordon. You said nothing about outside help,” he said, as Scott moved over to lift Gordon’s glass. Gordon sputtered protests as John took the shot glass, raised it in a cheers before drinking it down, putting it on the counter. John looked at Gordon.

“I’d like my winnings in big bills,” John said, moving over to the pantry to extract a bagel for his breakfast.

“I hope you choke on that bagel,” Gordon said testily. Not only had he lost the $100 he had won from Scott, he even was out $100 from his own pocket. Scott laughed and smiled over his cup of coffee.

“Come now, Gordon,” he said. “No one likes a sore loser.”


End file.
